Holt County, Missouri

What hazards hit Holt County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 131 since 1964. 56% of its hail reports since 1964 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Missouri's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Holt County had?

NOAA records 15 tornadoes in Holt County from 1954 to 2024, the strongest rated EF1, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 15 tornadoes whose track touched Holt County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 15, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Missouri.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Holt County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 7, 2009 hail ($69,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A significant episode of severe weather, featuring extremely large and destructive hail and a few brief tornadoes, impacted portions of northwest and north central Missouri during the late afternoon and evening hours on June 7th. The setup for the event featured a slow moving warm front that was draped from far northwest Missouri southeastward into central Missouri. This front had been reinforced by a complex of thunderstorms that had impacted northern Missouri during the overnight and early morning hours prior, allowing abundant low level moisture to become pooled along the front. Strong daytime heating along and south of the front sent temperatures into the middle and upper 80s. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 176935)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Holt County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

56% of its hail reports since 1964 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Holt County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Holt County: 19 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (11) and flood (8).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Holt County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 25 flood or flash flood records for Holt County from 1996 to 2021, on 20 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Holt County ranks 280th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $39.3 million on 1,254 claims filed in Holt County; the most in one year was 312 in 2011. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Holt County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Holt County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $6.6 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Holt County

1. Nodaway County 629
2. Nemaha County, NE 523
3. Richardson County, NE 513
4. Atchison County 462
5. Andrew County 378
6. Holt County 333
7. Doniphan County, KS 281

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MissouriEvery Missouri tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in MissouriThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Missouri recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Holt CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Holt County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis